The 1970 Act, passed by the then Labour government, prohibited less favourable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and conditions. Prior to its coming into force, it was routine for employers to pay women less for the same job.
Cherie Blair
QC said: ‘I started my own career as a human rights barrister in 1976, one year
after the law came into force, and I fondly imagined that it would not be long
before equal pay was a reality.
‘Sadly, I was
too optimistic. In the UK today the gender pay gap is 17.3%. So yes, we
have seen progress but we still have some way to go.’
Dana
Denis-Smith, founder of The Next 100 Years, said: ‘When the Chancellor Rishi
Sunak announced his economic emergency rescue package on 24 March, he also
announced that compulsory gender pay reporting would be suspended for the
current year.
‘It was a move
that hardly made any waves at the time, as the UK was placed under lockdown,
yet we were only a matter of days from the filing deadline of 5 April, so most
companies should have been ready to file. Those that did file, showed an
increased gap of pay and bonuses. The situation is clearly getting worse, not
better.
‘By taking
this seemingly small step to alleviate the pressure on businesses, the
Chancellor has unwittingly given them the green light to put the gender pay gap
to the bottom of the pile.’
Millicent
Grant QC, the first Chartered Legal Executive to become an honorary QC, said:
‘With research showing that women are taking on more caring responsibilities
than men during the COVID-19 crisis, equality is taking another big hit at a
time when the focus should be on redressing the balance.
‘Businesses
must not use the challenges of the pandemic as an excuse for not addressing the
gender pay gap. Instead they should take pride in leading on the issue, rather
than hiding away; leading not just with words but with policies and systemic
changes that result in the equality we aspire to achieve. Their business will
benefit from it in the long run.’
Lady Hale
said: ‘I’ll never forget the day when a bright woman student of mine at
Manchester University told me that she had been offered a job with an insurance
company (she didn’t want to go into legal practice) but that the pay would be
two thirds of what a man would get for doing exactly the same job.
‘The Equal Pay
Act 1970 made that impossible. Whatever the good that it did not do, we should
always remember the good that it did do.’
